Image courtesy of DLR Group DLR Group Architects (http://www.dlrgroup.com/home/) have incorporated Bio-PCM ENRG blankets into walls and ceilings of a classroom and its performance will be compared with a similar, non-PCM containing classroom (see http://schoolconstructionnews.com/2018/02/16/thermal-mass-2-0-reinventing-energy-design-user-experience/). The project is based at Canyon View High School in Waddell, Arizona. Both rooms will monitor HVAC energy, overall building energy…

The UK Government’s Environmental Audit Committee will consider risks to health, wellbeing and productivity associated with heatwaves, review the level of UK resilience to them and assess the Government’s actions to date. The Committee will also be examining public health risks associated with higher temperatures as well as heatwaves (see http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environmental-audit-committee/news-parliament-2017/heatwaves-launch-17-19/). Globally, 15 of the 16 highest…

Image courtesy of Roland Korner, Filmfabrik, Woessner The new apartment building in Vaduz, Liechtenstein has been designed as an active energy building. Details of the project can be found at http://www.architectour.net/opere/opera.php?id_opera=6869&nome_opera=Marxer%20Haus&architetto=Falkeis%C2%B2architects&language=1 and http://www.puretemp.com/pcmatters/inspired-by-nature-marxer-haus-takes-wing-in-liechtenstein. As well as many other sustainable features, the apartment block utilises movable “wings”. These climate wings contain 1.4 tonnes of Rubitherm PCMs enclosed in aluminium tubes. …

This is a report by Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA), under contract to the US Department of Defense Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) (see http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=AD1022577). A hybrid Environmental Control Unit (HECU) technology was demonstrated in which the integrated heat exchangers, filled with Phase Change Material (PCM), were fitted into a facility’s air conditioning system at the…

There is considerable evidence to support the fact that overheating of buildings in the UK is becoming an increasing problem. In a recent survey (October 2015), on behalf of WSP:Parsons Brinckerhoff, 83% of the 1,005 London households surveyed stated that they had experienced at least one period of overheating during that summer. Part of the problem…

In order to extend electric vehicle battery life, by protecting batteries from extremes of temperatures, Constellium plans to use wax-based PCMs in aluminium body sections (see http://www.autonews.com/article/20170731/OEM10/170739985/ev-bodies-part-of-the-power-source). The body structure consists of extruded aluminum members that have a hollow cavity, which is filled with a phase change material that acts as a passive cooling system for a battery.…

On very hot days, the power grids in the USA are under considerable strain to maintain power to all the country’s air conditioners. A new start-up in Chicago, NETenergy, works on the premise “why store electricity to generate cold air when you could store cold instead” (see http://midwestenergynews.com/2017/03/22/chicago-startups-thermal-battery-is-adaptive-solution-to-spikes-in-electricity-demand/). A chemical engineering professor at the University of…

After laying down good foundations for the company’s three core businesses – oil refining, marketing, and electricity generating – Bangchak Petroleum’s CEO Chaiwat Kovavisarach said he had now moved to concentrate on incubating the fourth and fifth growth engines for the group, namely bio-products and resources. The group is also delegating more money and resources…

Image courtesy of NASA NASA has developed a phase change material heat exchanger — PCM HX for short — which stores energy by thawing a wax-based phase change material using hot coolant. That energy is later rejected by the spacecraft’s radiator, which then refreezes the wax and prepares it for the next heat load. This new type…